A Comparative Study of Narratives in Transmitted and Excavated Texts: The Exemplary Case of “The Demise of the Xi Clan” (三郤之亡)

本文由敘事學角度切入，透過實際分析春秋中晚期晉國「三郤之亡」史事在不同文獻載述中的異同情形，進而探討先秦傳本──《春秋》、《左傳》、《國語》──與近年出土的簡本《上博五?姑成家父》間的關係。藉由不同文獻間的分析、比較，冀能釐清傳本∕簡本在人物形象、情節鋪陳、立場∕觀點與主題∕意義等敘事要素上的差異及特色。 本文以「情節」、「人物形象」、「觀點與意義」為論述重點。經由分析、比較後發現同一事件在《左傳》、《國語》與《上博》的載述中，常因論述者∕論述目的不同而產生不同的側重與詮釋；同樣的人物，在不同文獻中形象也時有落差。藉此進而探論傳統歷史敘事在現代史學的兩個主要意義：首先，經由傳本與簡本的互參比較，愈能彰顯不同文獻的特色與差異，望能藉此對傳統文獻的性質∕出土文獻的意義有更清晰的認識與反省。其次，種種傳統歸諸「傳聞異辭」的差異現象，實際上正展示了傳統歷史敘事的特色：以史為鑑的道德意識與倫理價值的強調∕追求，明顯影響敘事要素的安排；同一事件以不同方式論述，即傳達出不同的德行意涵與核心關懷，藉此也可見證中國傳統歷史敘事所蘊涵的濃厚人文精神與更開放的詮釋空間。The elimination of three powerful members of the Xi (郤) lineage is a political turning point in the Spring and Autumn period, for which there exist divergent accounts in at least three sources: the Zuozhuan (左傳), the Guoyu (國語), and the “Gucheng Jiafu” (姑成家父), the last of which is an excavated text in the Shanghai Museum cache of Warring States bamboo slips from the state of Chu (楚). This paper examines the relations between the three narratives about this event in the history of the Xi family, who held the reins of power in the state of Jin (晉). Through close analysis, we will study the following four literary elements that weave together each narrative: plot development, characterization, point of view, and thematic content. By looking at variances between the three accounts in terms of these four elements, we discover that the Zuozhuan, Guoyu, and Shanghai Museum texts interpret the same event in ways that vary according to the narrator’s purpose and desired effects. In exploring the differences in the nature of transmitted versus excavated texts, we first establish that the characteristics of redacted versions are distinguishable from the newly unearthed ones. Furthermore, we discover that the compilers of the transmitted texts had traditional ethics very much in mind as they edited history narratives to promote certain moral values. The imperative for history to instill moral consciousness in its readers clearly had a role in the shaping of the narratives; but at the same time, conflicting concerns also emerge from the discrepant ways in which the same event is rendered, thereby showing that both the humanistic spirit and rich interpretive possibilities are an integral part of traditional Chinese historiography